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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Strengthening the State Union and improving functioning of institutions

Belgrade, 31 May 2004

Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said in an interview to the state television RTS1 that the goals of the Serbian government are the preservation and strengthening of the State Union, better functioning of institutions and reforms based on law.

Strengthening the State Union and improving functioning of institutions

Kostunica said that most of the countries that were heading towards the European Union did not have the same problems as Serbia-Montenegro in the past ten years. It had to solve its state status due to specific relations between its member states, it struggled with unstable situation in Kosovo-Metohija, which is under the international administration, it had to cope with the attack by ethnic Albanian terrorists in southern Serbia in November 2000, and the consequences of the 1999 NATO bombing.

Kostunica said that he was aware of the major problems and the main goals in his work when he accepted the office of the prime minister. He said that he is satisfied with the results of the first 100 days of the new government, because a number of laws were passed, the economy has revived, the fight against corruption was intensified and the government readily faced the Kosovo problem. The major achievement is that all institutions have become functional.

The Prime Minister said that he would reproach himself if the new Serbian constitution is not adopted on time, because, as he said, the reforms cannot be fully completed if the constitution does not exist. The new Serbian government agreed that the issue of the new constitution should be left entirely to the parliament and its committee on constitutional affairs, "because in that way we wanted to show that the parliament is more important than the government and that it has the first say".

Commenting on the work of the previous government, Kostunica said that his position is the same as when he criticised it for the following: failure to elect a president of Serbia, delay in the adoption of the new constitution and the problem of the parliament's legitimacy. At one moment, the government put itself above the parliament. Its reforms were based on revolutionary spirit and enthusiasm, but reforms must rest on the law. In that way, the ruling Democratic Party of Serbia (DS) rendered the work of courts and the parliament senseless, and it had many cases of corruption. These were the reason why I seriously considered cooperating with that same people in the new government, Kostunica said.

The Prime Minister said that this is first government of the centre and centre-right since 1945, except for a member party of the ruling coalition, Social Democratic Party, which is one of the reason why the government in not liked by a part of the public.

The Prime Minister said that the fight against crime is one of the government's major tasks. By passing a set of judicial laws, the judiciary has undergone reform and preconditions for independent judiciary and the suppression of corruption and organised crime have been created. Kostunica stressed that the Law on prevention of conflict of interest was adopted, adding that this government will stand the pressures of lobbies and will not desist from its goal of establishing the law-abiding state. Organised crime is a great threat, because the grey economy accounted for 80 percent of the GDP before 2000, and that number has been reduced to 50 percent. All measures were taken to ensure more efficient collection of taxes and customs duties.

The Prime Minister said that illegally gained wealth of certain individuals must be examined, adding that laws will be efficiently applied in the cases of corruption and fraud.

Concerning the privatisation, Kostunica said that the government will act in line with the provisions of the present Law on privatisation, and that revisions of the privatisation will be made only in cases when there is a suspicion of corruption. Kostunica said that a law on the availability of information will be adopted soon, and that laws on the reform of state administration have been prepared.

Cooperation with the Hague tribunal must be a two-way street, but such a cooperation also entails respect of guarantees given by the state to the tribunal, which facilitated the cooperation in some neighbouring countries, said Kostunica. To improve the cooperation, national council on cooperation with the tribunal will be set up shortly, said Kostunica. He stressed that some war crimes trials should be held in domestic courts.

However, the Hague tribunal has always found a reason not to meet Serbia's conditions, which can be seen on the example of former Serbian president Milan Milutinovic, said Kostunica, adding that the largest number of top-brass indictees come from Serbia.

Speaking about Kosovo-Metohija, Kostunica said that all reactions to the government's Plan for Kosovo-Metohija were positive, and that the events of March 17 opened the eyes of the international community. The government's Plan for Kosovo-Metohija was made in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244, it does not deal with the issue of Kosovo's final status, and suggests that the best solution would be to grant autonomy to Serbs and non-Albanians in the province, while the redrawing of borders in a region which aspires to European integrations would be impermissible, said Kostunica.

The Prime Minister said that relations in the state union are correct, stressing that it is important that institutions of the state union have been formed. The Court of Serbia-Montenegro has been established, the federal parliament is functional and the issue of financing the Army of Serbia-Montenegro is being solved.

Kostunica said that we must enter the EU as an integrated state union, adding that the opinion in Montenegro concerning the union with Serbia is changing. The people are becoming increasingly aware of the advantages of entering Europe as a larger union, than as two minute and divided countries, the Serbian Prime Minister concluded.